“Once he starts playing the speed of the game and starts playing with those types of players and understanding the game as he goes along and plays, he’s gonna adjust very, very fast because he’s been around the game for so long,” said former NBA player Flip Murray about Bronny James earlier this year. The storyline around the 20-year-old dominated the NBA last year, as people wanted to see whether LeBron James’ eldest son could match the prowess of his father in his rookie league season. Well, the 2.3 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists he averaged proved otherwise. Though Bronny is certainly not his father, he still has a long way to go to reach the level of a good NBA player. Fortunately, he continues to have the supportive voice of a 4-time NBA champion, as seen in exclusive footage from a recent training session.

Famed basketball training coach Chris Johnson recently uploaded a reel on his official Instagram account. The same highlighted Bronny James practicing with back-to-back dunks, building up both his shot-making ability, along with getting in some cardio. In the background, Johnson could be heard pushing on the Lakers player, saying “Up, Up” whenever he wanted Bronny to not take a break and just keep pushing on. By the end, Johnson was satisfied enough to exclaim, “Hey Nephew. Let’s go Nephew. Let’s go Nephew”.

LeBron James later highlighted the reel on his own story, and the reel’s message that read “Finish Strong Cardio Dunks 🔥😤.” But the real highlight? Bron’s six-word message: “It’s happening!! Continue to work Young [prince].“

Finished strong, indeed! And amid all this, James is making his noise about his future in the league.

It was only a few days ago when ‘The Stein Line’ reporter Marc Stein revealed that Bronny James is confirmed to play for the Lakers’ summer league team in Las Vegas. He will be returning to the NBA court on July 10th, when the Lakers face off against the Dallas Mavericks. During his previous Summer League tournament, Bronny averaged only 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists throughout 4 games. The same was a mixed bag, since Bronny missed his first 15 3-pointers as a Laker, but made up for it in his final two games. Therefore, going into the upcoming Summer League games, Bronny hopes to leave a better impression this time around. After all, his performance there could set a benchmark for what fans should expect from the young star for the rest of his appearances during the 2025-26 NBA season.

The Summer League isn’t the only reason, however, that Bronny James is making those Cardio Dunks as part of his practice regimen. About a month ago, reports quoting a Western conference executive revealed that the Lakers are “dead-set” on making Bronny a part of the rotation next season. As Athlon Sports reporter Sean Deveney highlighted, “The fact is, he was a lot better player in April than he was in October, and definitely in July… If he can show that wasn’t a fluke, he is going to start getting 10, 15 minutes a night because the team is going to feel like they can trust him. I think he is going to do all that. He is going to be a regular for them next year.”

This is a big step-up for someone who made only 27 appearances at the NBA level and played 181 minutes total. With LeBron James having opted into his $52.6 million Los Angeles Lakers contract for a record 23rd season, Bronny is determined to make the upcoming season work.

Right from the start, Bronny will face a major challenge. After all, his prowess can get stopped, or overshadowed, by Cooper Flagg during the Summer League.

Kevin Garnett is Excited as the NBA Sets Up a Cooper Flagg-Bronny James Matchup: “LET’S GET THIS THANG STARTED”

The acquisition of Cooper Flagg by the Dallas Mavericks removed some of the sting the team developed following Luka Doncic’s trade. After all, he is the star player who averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in his sole season with the Duke Blue Devils. The player who, as part of the USA Select Team, went up against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, and other members of USA’s roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The player whom Devin Booker praised by saying, “He wants it. I know this experience. He’s going to take with him and move forward.” That same Flagg is now set to make his NBA debut in the Summer League too, going up against Bronny James and the Lakers squad. A matchup that former NBA player Kevin Garnett is too excited about.

The 2008 NBA champion recently took to his official Instagram account. He wrote “Awwwww s**t… just got the Summer League schedule and I see that got BRONNY VS THE FLAG… FIRST NIGHT TYPE ISHHHH… yooooo the energy in the building is about to be crazy. YESSS, LET’S GET THIS THANG STARTED… I need to see it.”

While several critics questioned whether Bronny James deserved to be in the NBA, let alone the Lakers, Kevin Garnett was among the first few former players to come to his aid from the start. Not only did he build the young player up through his opinion, he even compared him to the ‘Black Mamba’ by stating, “[Kobe Bryant] had great bones and great makeup to build off of. Bronny shows some of that same make. I’m not calling him young Kobe or none of that, but I’m saying that’s potential.”

At the same time, Garnett also believes in Cooper Flagg. He has seen what the young star can do against veteran NBA players. Therefore, the Celtics legend was bold enough to say, “He got that superstar potential that you could come in and put product behind him. We ain’t had no badass cold-ass white boy like this in a long time, I’m just saying. That’s on some real s—. Like this MFer coming in here, I’m talking about on some like, ‘Yeah, I’m in here.’” Therefore, it is hard to find a person who will be more excited than Garnett for the upcoming game.

The clock is ticking for Bronny James, as he is determined to improve his skills before the Summer League. It remains to be seen whether even that level of preparation would be enough to beat Cooper Flagg and co.